


Some Burns Leave Scars

by bkbuglet



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: Alchemy, Anal Sex, Dubious Consent, Explicit Sexual Content, Flame Alchemy, M/M, Past Abuse, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-26
Updated: 2014-02-20
Packaged: 2017-12-06 13:15:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/736109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bkbuglet/pseuds/bkbuglet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In this story the up and coming Colonel Roy Mustang has been living in Resembool and learning under the great alchemist Van Hohenheim.</p><p>Hohenheim dies before he can give Roy the secrets of Flame Alchemy but tells him to find his sons Edward and Alphonse who live in Xing, he claims that Edward has the secrets of Flame Alchemy.</p><p>Roy heads to Xing with Hohenheim's body and meets the son and the Emperor's son Ling who seems to have a very close relationship with Edward. Edward refuses to teach Roy Flame Alchemy unless he fulfills a promise that he doesn't know he can keep.</p><p>As time goes by he discovers that Ed is keeping more secrets then just Flame Alchemy.</p><p>(I think I'll be updating this every Friday (depending on my work load))</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys like this newest chapter!

“Master Hohenheim? Are you alright?” Mustang tentatively knocked on his teachers’ bedroom door, but he got no reply. He was getting nervous, during their last lesson Hohenheim had claimed he was feeling dizzy and needed to rest. That had been almost three hours ago, Mustang had decided to bring him some soup and tea hoping it would help him feel better. He knocked on the door again but he got no response. “Master I’m coming in.”

Mustang opened the door and nearly dropped the tray when he saw that Hohenheim was collapsed over on the floor. Mustang quickly placed the tray he was carrying but was quick to place it on the Hohenheim’s desk. He rushed over to his Master’s side and helped him up. He was bleeding from the mouth.

“Master what’s wrong?” he tried to straighten him up, but Hohenheim gripped his shirt frantically pulling him closer. “What is it?”

“Mustang—my son—” he reached passed Mustang and grabbed a book off his bedside table it fell from his hands.

“Master forget the book, I need to get you some help.” Mustang tried to pull Hohenheim up but he held him by the front of his shirt dirtying it with blood. “Master please—”

“Listen,” Hohenheim whispered. “I know I don’t have much time…” he opened the book with shaking hands and passed Mustang a picture with bloody fingers. “My sons, Edward and Alphonse.” He pointed to the two little boys in the picture. “Please…see them, give them my body.”

“Master?” Mustang took the picture and tucked it into his pocket. “Please don’t talk like that, we can get you to a hospital—”

“No,” Hohenheim simply pointed to the picture indicating the older boy with golden hair and eyes. “My son Edward—he knows the secrets of Flame Alchemy—he and my younger son—they’re in Xing.” Hohenheim coughed again and blood dripped from his mouth to the ground.

“Master?” but he was silent. “MASTER!”

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The next morning Mustang went to the Rockbell residence.

“He’s dead?” Pinako asked as she smoked her pipe, Winry choked on a sob.

“Excuse me.” She left the kitchen and went to the mechanics shop, Mustang knew that she was leaving the room because she didn’t want to cry in front of him.

“Yes Pinako, it was last night.” He twisted his fingers together. “I had the mortician come last night, but I don’t know what to do with the body. He asked to be taken to his sons, but I don’t know where they are, I’ve never met them.” Pinako sighed and took a deep inhale from her pipe. “He never even told me he had children, he said they were in Xing.”

“Yes, they are.” Pinako had her eyes closed, clearly deep in thought. “They moved there for Alphonse’ health. He has poor lungs the air here wasn’t good for him so they left when they found a doctor in Xing who could help them.”

“Why didn’t Hohenheim go with them?” again Pinako seemed to tense at the mention of Hohenheim’s past.

“Edward thought it would be best if he stayed here.” Right Edward, Hohenheim had told him about, the one who was supposed to have the secrets to Flame alchemy. Did that mean that Edward was a Flame Alchemist?

“How old is Edward?” he laced his fingers below his chin in curiosity.

“He’s about nineteen, just a little older than Winry. But I must be honest, I don’t know they’re address. They only call on holidays or birthdays.” She stood up and Mustang went to stand but she rested a hand on his arm and shook her head. “You stay here, I’ll make us some tea.”

“Are you sure you don’t need any help?” he offered though he knew that she wouldn’t accept it, she simply smirked and left the room. Mustang reached into his inside pocket and pulled out the picture that he had been given from Hohenheim. If Pinako didn’t know where the brother’s were there was a possibility that Winry knew where they were. “I’ll be in the washroom Pinako.”

He left the room and headed towards the mechanic’s shop passing a board with pictures pinned to it. He had walked past it many times, but he had never really looked at it, now he did. He saw that while there were pictures of Winry and her parents who had passed away during a terrorists’ attack on a train before he had ever met them, except now he saw that the two boys were also in the pictures. Along with a beautiful woman with chestnut hair who was in pictures with the boys and Hohenheim, that must have been his wife. Another person he had never mentioned to Mustang, he wondered why. The boys both looked happy and healthy, he wondered when Alphonse had gotten sick. These were all questions he planned to address to Miss Winry.  
He knocked on the door of the shop. He heard a sniffle behind the door then the clearing of a throat.

“Come in.” he heard Winry choke out. He opened the door and saw her bent over her desk with a box of tissues at her side. “Hello Colonel.”

“Hi Winry,” he smiled at her warmly as he came to her side. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t come with better news.”

“I’m glad you told us.” She looked down at her hands. “How did it happen?”

“I’m not sure.” He picked up one of the screwdrivers from her table. “He said he was feeling dizzy, then went to bed. I went to bring him something to eat, but when I found him he was on the floor. The coroner said that it was exhaustion.” He twisted the screwdriver in his hands. “I just hate that I didn’t notice it before.”

“Hohenheim was very private,” Winry whispered. “It’s no surprise, he and Edward are similar in that way.”

“How well do you know Edward?” he was finally getting the information that he needed. “Pinako said you two were close in age, and I saw pictures of you all as children. You seemed close.”

“We were, before they left.” She sighed as she balanced her beloved wrench on the table. “I hardly hear from them now, Alphonse sends letters back home, but Edward’s busy working.”

“Really?” maybe Edward was an alchemist like his father had been. “What does he do?”

“He works in the Palace.” Winry rested her chin on the table.

“Excuse me?” Mustang asked baffled. “Did you say the palace?”

“Yeah.” She stood up and went into her leather rucksack. She pulled out a small envelope. “Here they are with the Emperor’s son.” 

She handed him the envelope that had a picture inside of it. The two boys were certainly older. Alphonse looked healthy but had a crutch under one of his arms and Edward…was surprisingly handsome. He had filled out in his face and grown, he also kept his hair tied back similar to the way his father had. They both looked happy as they were embraced by the man in the middle he was about five years younger than Mustang with long black hair in a ponytail. “They’re quite close with him since Ed works with their healers so he can learn Alkahestry.”

“What’s that?” Mustang turned the picture over to see that it was sighed Tell Dad we send our best Love Alphonse and Ed! Did they not send any letters to their own father? What was going on?

“I think it’s medical alchemy, at least that’s what Alphonse said, but I’m not sure since I’m no alchemist.” Mustang noted the address on the upper corner of the envelope.

“So he’s not a flame alchemist?” he asked curious. Winry looked down at the ground now, why did everyone seem so touchy on this subject? True Hohenheim never seemed to bring up his studies around Winry or Pinako but he had never thought that was because he didn’t want to, but more because it wouldn’t interest them. Now he wasn’t so sure.

“No, he’s no Flame Alchemist.” She said sadly as she sat down at her desk then looked up at Mustang with tear filled blue eyes. 

“Colonel, I know that you want to learn all the secrets of Flame alchemy and I’m not a State Alchemist like you or Mr. Hohenheim was…but I know one thing for sure: Edward hates Flame Alchemy more than anything.”

“Could you tell me why?” she shook her head.

“It’s not my place.” She opened one of her drawers. “But I’ll tell you right now, the only way that you can successfully become a Flame Alchemist is with Edward’s help.”

“That won’t be easy since he hates Flame Alchemy.” Mustang lifted the envelope for Winry to see. “Is this the address where they’re living now?” she nodded. “While I might not be able to convince Edward to help me, I have to bring his father to him. It was his only request.”

“Colonel.” Winry pulled out a leather bound notebook. It had an inscription on the front with the letters T.E. “This was given to me by Edward before he left for Xing. He asked me to hold on to it for him, to…” she looked down at the notebook again. “…He wanted to keep it from Hohenheim. I know that I shouldn’t have but he begged me to. I don’t know if it’s anything you can use, but it might help you if he won’t.” she handed the notebook to him and Mustang had to stop his hands from shaking. He felt like he was being handed the Holy Grail, could this possibly be the answer to all that he had been searching for?

“Thank you Winry,” he looked down at it amazed. “I promise to take care of it.”

“Colonel?” Pinako called from the kitchen. “You’re teas going to get cold.”

“Be right there.” He called as he opened the door. “Winry I can’t thank you enough.” He winked at her as he left. He was too happy to see the look of fearful sadness on her face or hear her whisper:

“I hope you don’t regret it Roy.”

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In the morning after Mustang had been to see Hohenheim’s lawyer so he could make sure that everything that belonged to his sons got to them. Then after he finished there he went to the mortician and had the body readied for the train. Then Winry walked him to the train station.

“I’ll make sure to send them a letter so they know you’re coming.” Winry told him as they walked together.

“You can’t call them?” she shook her head disappointed.

“They didn’t leave a number, every time I try to call them back after they call me it never works. I’ll send it rush so they’ll get it.” 

They reached the platform and saw the train making it’s way over to them in the distance.

“It’s a shame they have to get this news over the phone.” She sighed and shook her head again.

“Ed wasn’t on the best of terms with his father, I hope that this won’t upset him too much.” Mustang placed a comforting hand on her shoulder just as the train pulled into the platform.

“I’m sure if they’re anything like they’re father they’ll be ok.” She smiled up at him thankfully. “Make sure to tell Pinako thanks for everything. And,” he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you Winry. It’s been fun, I’ll let you know once I’m there and I’ll tell the boys to write you.” He turned to get on the train but he felt Winry grab his hand and stopped. “Is something wrong?”

“When you see Ed,” she had tears in her eyes again. What was wrong now? “Please don’t tell him that you’re a state alchemist.”

“What?” he asked confused. “Why not?”

“I already told you he hates state alchemists, he’s not going to want to help you.” She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I don’t think that you’re a bad person like the other ones who have tried to learn from Hohenheim. I think you’ll use the research properly, I want you to be successful, so try to get on his good side before he rejects you.”

“Thanks for the advice.” He smiled then kissed her on the forehead. “Stay safe.”

He picked up his suitcase and got on the train just before it pulled out of the station. Winry waved goodbye and Mustang waved back at her until she was just a speck in the distance.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Once he was alone he pulled the notebook out of his briefcase. He hadn’t had time to review them since he’d been busy insuring that everything was ready for Hohenheim’s funeral.

He smiled to himself as he opened admired the cover of the book. He traced the letters T.E. with his fingers. He knew enough from talking to Pinako the night before that the T most likely stood for Trisha, Hohenheim’s wife, who had passed away when the boys were very young, right before Alphonse got ill. He couldn’t help but think that all these things fitted together some how.

He opened the notebook and started to read. Of course the notes were in code, in fact they read like an extremely detailed way to treat Peonies, there were lots of references to a Golden King flower that needed to be treated with the utmost care. Mustang couldn’t help but assume that meant Edward, if he had the secrets it would make sense. The thing that confused him the most was the fact that the notes were written in a very delicate cursive, like that of someone with a small hand. They looked nothing like the notes that Hohenheim had written with his large blocky wording. It was becoming clearer and clearer that Hohenheim hadn’t written these notes.

Before Mustang dozed off he tucked the notes into his inner most pocket of his suitcase and sat on it, there was no chance he was going to lose his Master’s legacy. But that was just the thing, the more he thought about it, the less sense it made that the notes were Hohenheim’s. He might have dictated and had Trisha write them for him, he might have given them to her for safe keeping, but why didn’t he know that Winry had them? Why had Edward, this young boy he knew nothing about seem to be the answer to Flame Alchemy? Exactly what was Trisha Elric’s association with all of this?

These were the thoughts that rocked him to sleep as his train continued East into Xing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter!

Roy groaned when he finally reached Xing. The train ride had been seemingly endless, he never knew that transferring a body across the border would be such a hassle. He had waited through a three hour inspection and missed his first train. He hoped that the boys hadn’t been waiting for him, he hated that there was no way for him to contact them. But finally he reached Xing, and it was like an oven. The station seemed to be located in a desert, there was nothing for miles. Had the boys really left Resembool for this? Maybe the dry heat was better for Alphonse’ health.

“Colonel Roy Mustang?” he turned around to see a very pretty girl wearing a shiny red dress with braided onyx hair smiling at him. 

“You are Roy Mustang aren’t you?”

“Um…yes, you aren’t Edward Hohenheim are you?” she giggled and shook her head.

“No, I’m their attendant. Edward didn’t have time to get away from the Palace so he asked for me to come here and get you.” She looked around. “I was told you were bringing Mr. Hohenheim, is he not here?”

“Um…” God did the boys not know that their father had died? Had they sent this poor girl here thinking she was picking up two living people? He rubbed the sweat that was forming at the base of his neck nervously. “You see, their father passed away. I’m just—”

“I know,” she replied calmly. “They told me that he was no longer with us.” She bowed her head in silence for a moment then raised it back to smile at Mustang. “I just wanted to know where his casket was.”

“Oh it should be getting taken out of luggage right now.” As he said that two burly men carried the large silver casket out of the train. He waved them over. He transmuted the casket himself with the help of Winry who had advised him on the bed way to insulate it. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

“How forgetful of me.” She giggled again as she extended her hand to Mustang. “My name is May, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The two men dropped the casket at Roy’s feet he reached into his pocket for his wallet, but before he could get it May handed them a small red purse.

“Thank you,” she smiled flirtatiously at the men, how old was this girl? “Would you two be so kind as to bring that to our car? It’s right over there.” She pointed to a large black car.

“For a pretty lady like you, no problem.” One of the men winked as they prepared to lift the case and bring it over to the car. It was a very beautiful and long car, Mustang couldn’t help but wonder what type of relationship the brother had with the Emperor of this country. He smiled down at May winningly.

“You should let those men talk to you like that?” he offered her his arm.

“Oh really?” she chuckled as she accepted his arm. “I promise you Colonel that like every other woman in this country, I am more than capable of taking care of myself.”

“Really?” the driver opened the car door for them. “Well I can’t wait to see that. After you.”

“Such a gentleman.” She joked as she slithered into the leather cushioning of the car. He noticed the men who had finished loading the casket into the trunk ogling May. He glared at the pair of them and they backed off. “I didn’t realize you were so protective Colonel.”

“I’m usually not.” He admitted as he closed the door and sat beside her in the lavish car. “The truth is that I’ve recently gotten to know a young girl in Resembool, she’s a little older than you, but she’s like a sister to me. If men were looking at her like that, I can promise you I would give them more than just the stink eye.”

“Do you mean Winry?” her eyes lighted up suddenly and she looked much more like a little girl than the woman she had been pretending to be.

“Yes.” The car pulled away from the station and away from the desert. “Have you heard about her?”

“Alphonse has told me a lot about her,” she blushed at the mention of Alphonse’s name. So that’s how it was. “He thinks of her as his sister too. I hear she’s a great mechanic.”

“The best,” he confirmed. “She’s going to take an apprenticeship in Rush Valley soon, I’m sure she’ll be a huge success there.”

“It’s a shame she hasn’t been able to see the brothers. I know Alphonse has missed her.” She looked out the window longingly.

“What about Edward?” She stiffened at the mention of the other brother’s name. Maybe they didn’t get along. “Does he not miss Resembool?”

“I’m sure he misses parts of it.” She said with a fake smile gracing her lips. “But he’s so focused on his work, and making sure that Alphonse’ health continues to progress. He hardly ever talks about Resembool really.”

“Is that so?” He was starting to grow a bit concerned. He hoped that Edward didn’t end up hating him at first glance. He would like to at least try to make a good impression before Edward decided to throw him out. He at least hoped he could stay until the funeral. While Hohenheim didn’t tell him much about his family, Mustang would always see him as the man who had taken him in as an apprentice when he didn’t have to. “What exactly does Edward do in the Palace?”

“Oh…” she twisted the hem of her dress nervously. Why didn’t anyone want to tell him about Edward? What was it about this boy that had everyone on edge? Was he some sort of secret alchemist that no one was allowed to talk about? Maybe he was working on something for the Emperor that no one was allowed to talk about. “He spends most of his time working on his Alkahestry working in the hospitals, helping Alphonse recover and…he spends a great deal of time with the Prince Ling.”

“Yes Winry told me as much.” He reached into his inside pocket and pulled out the picture that he had gotten from her. He showed it to May. “Have you seen this?”

“Oh!” she plucked the picture from his hand and looked at it with adoration. “I took this picture on Ed’s birthday.”

“It’s the only one Winry seemed to be able to part with,” he smiled as he watched her take pride in the picture. “I’m assuming the handsome one in the middle is Prince Ling?”

“Why yes he is,” she grinned tightly like she wanted to tell him something but was restraining herself. He wondered what it was. 

“He’s the fifth in line to inherit the throne. Though I think it will be a while before we have a new Emperor, ours is in such great health you see. Edward says…” she paused and cleared her throat, clearly she had said something she wasn’t supposed to. “He helps the healers with treating the Emperor when they ask him to.”

“I see, the royal family must hold a great deal of respect for Edward then.” She nodded and bit on her lip. There were so many questions he wanted to ask her but he worried that here was not the place. “Tell me May, do you know anything about Alkahestry, I must admit that I’m quite ignorant on the subject despite my own alchemic knowledge.”

“Actually I am studying, but mainly just how to heal minor cuts and wounds, a little long range weaponry here and there. But I’m not as skilled as Edward, he’s taught me everything I know about the subject, you should ask him.”

“I plan to.” He glanced at the window and tried to reign in his surprise. He had spent most of his life in Central and East City, he hadn’t ever gotten the chance to really travel unless he had been on missions for the military, but those were always just work so  
he never had time to enjoy the sights.

But Xing was beautiful. He had been nervous that there would be nothing but dry land the way there had been at the train station, and there was here and there, but there seemed to be an abundance of blooming trees, lively people roamed over the streets that were filled with shops and restaurants along with a sizable military police force that seemed to be busy as they patrolled the city but the people seemed to be unfazed by their presence they even seemed to welcome it. Xing seemed like a pleasant Country, so why hadn’t Hohenheim joined his sons here?

“We’ve arrived Miss Chang.” The car stopped in front of a lovely house with an oriental red roof to contrast the white paint of the house. In fact it was a rather large house, he hadn’t known that the brothers would have such a large estate, but he guessed that was the benefit of working for the Emperor and the Prince.

“Wait, we’re at the house first?” he got out after May as he took in the beauty of the house.

“Yes,” their driver got out and took Roy’s bags out of the trunk. “Ed said he wanted to have Hohenheim buried here.”

“I meant to ask you, is his wife Trisha buried here? Did she ever come to live here with the boys?” May turned to him with a sad look in her large brown eyes.

“No.” she shook her head. “She died before they moved here, I thought you knew that.”

“Right,” he nodded at her. “How could I forget?”

“May you’re back!” he looked up and saw a handsome young man standing at the top of the stairs. He had short hair and was leaning on a cane. He couldn’t have been more than sixteen. “You must be Colonel Mustang.” He started to make his way down the stairs when May shouted at him.

“Alphonse you know better,” she hurried up the stairs to stop him. “Why aren’t you resting?”

“I’ve been resting all day. I wanted to thank the Colonel myself.” He sighed as he continued down the stairs with May reluctantly helping him. “Hello Colonel, I’m Alphonse Elric. Thank you so much for bringing my father to us.”

“I’m just glad I could help,” he extended his hand to the younger Elric. “Your father was a great man and I was honored to have been his student.”

“Thank you,” he turned to May. “I’ll be fine, can you please tell the servants to bring my father to the garden?”

“Are you sure?” she looked at him as if he would collapse at any moment.

“I’ll be fine May, please.” She looked at Roy threateningly.

“Please watch over him.” She commanded as she headed into the house. “I’ll be in the house, if you need anything please let me know.”

“Will do.” He waved at her over his shoulder then turned to Roy. “She’s a little over protective, but she’s really quite sweet once you get to know her.”

“Not at all.” The servants came out and took Roy’s things. “Oh, I can take care of—”

“Please,” Alphonse rested a hand on his arm. “This is the least that we can do for you since you took the long journey to get here. Come with me, I’d like to speak with you about my father.”

“Of course.” He followed Alphonse as they walked over to the side of the house where a lovely cherry blossom tree was planted with a small marble bench resting beneath it. “How long have the two of you lived here?”

“Almost five years.” He said thoughtfully as he sat down on the bench. “It’s beautiful here, I wish I could go back to Resembool but as you can see my health probably couldn’t withstand the journey.”

“You look rather healthy to me,” it was true. Despite the fact that Alphonse had a limp he looked like he was in good health. “But I’m no doctor so I guess I’m not one to comment.”

“No you’re correct.” Alphonse smiled at him. “Aside from my limp I’m in good physical health,” he rested a hand on his chest. “But my lungs aren’t able to last long trips if I can’t get fresh air and constant rest.” He sighed. “It’s exhausting, but I’ve been like this since I was seven.”

“I see,” a comfortable silence rested between the two of them until Alphonse interrupted with a quiet question.

“How did my father die?” Roy hated that he couldn’t answer this question properly.

“I’m not sure, they said he had been sick for a while.” He tried to remember what the coroner had told him. “They said it was a combination of exhaustion and an old injury that wasn’t treated properly in the past.”

“So it wasn’t because of his alchemy?” the look in Alphonse’ eyes was fearful. 

“No,” Hohenheim had said the secrets to Flame Alchemy were with his sons, maybe Alphonse knew as much as Edward. “Why would you ask that?”

“It’s…well my brother thought that it was, I’m glad to hear that it wasn’t.” he visibly relaxed then started coughing viciously.

“Are you alright?” he held Alphonse’ arms, but he simply shook his head once the fit was over.

“I’m fine, it just happens once in a while.” He stood up slowly. “I should go inside and take my medicine, will you be staying with us until the military calls you away?”

“If they have a mission there are many other people who can assist them.” He joined Alphonse as he walked from the tree towards the house. “Is your brother at home today?”

“He’s at the hospital today, but he’ll be back by dinner.” They reached the house and he had to wait for Alphonse to catch his breadth before they could proceed. “He wanted Hohenheim buried after dinner.”

“And he’s alright with my staying here, and being here for the funeral?” he was concerned that he might be rejected for being a State Alchemist. “I’d understand if—”

“Colonel.” Alphonse said simply. “No matter what my brother thinks of Colonel’s of Amestris’s military, I’m not going to turn out the man that was kind enough to bring my father to me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments and kudos!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UPDATE!  
> Sorry I wanted to update this before, but honestly I wasn't sure what to write for this chapter so it's a little short, and there's a Miyazaki marathon happening near my home so I was busy with that.  
> ps. watch Castle in the Sky  
> Anyway here's the next chapter.  
> Side note: I think that Roy is about 26 and Ed's about 19.  
> At least I think that's how old Ed is supposed to be I honestly don't remember and couldn't bring myself to re-read the chapter before.  
> Why you ask?  
> Too lazy, I reply.  
> Enjoy!

Roy hated to admit that he was completely exhausted from his journey and decided to take a nap in the guest room that had been provided for him. It was large, but not too extravagant, it made him think of Hohenheim with the many books that had been left on the shelves, all having to do with Alkahestry. He made a note to try and read them if Edward didn’t have him packing as soon as Hohenheim was in the ground.

He sighed as he lied down on the comfortable bed. While Alphonse seemed fond of him he wasn’t sure if he would be able to win Edward over. Hopefully he would be able to charm him with stories about Resembool and Winry. They had been friends so maybe his presence would be a pleasant thing instead of a bad reminder of whatever had caused him to leave his home.

He should write to his friends Riza and Jean, he had sent them each letters telling him that he was going to Xing and would contact them when he knew where he was. He was sure they’d been interested in hearing about what Xing looked like, it had already far exceeded his expectations. But he would write to them after he’d rested for a bit.

He was about to doze off when there was a light knock at his door. He straightened up and plastered a smile to his face.

“Hello?” May opened the bedroom door and peeked her head in. “Hello May.”

“Hi.” She replied happily as she entered the room. “I just wanted to make sure that you were all settled in.”

“Yes it’s very nice thank you.” He smiled warmly at her as he tried to think of a nice way to get her to leave so he could take a nap. “Listen I—”

“I’m in the middle of dinner and I wanted to make sure that you don’t have any allergies.” That wasn’t quite what he expected, but since he’d met May she’d been full of surprises. “I know that Ed doesn’t like milk so I just wanted to check.”  
“I don’t have any allergies.” He chuckled. “I’m actually rather excited to taste Xinise cuisine.”

“Well I promise that it’s gonna be great!” she smiled as she prepared to leave. “Also, I wanted to tell you that Ed will be home tonight.”

“Does he not usually come home at night?” May stiffened and shook her head.

“He does, but it’s usually after dinner.” She gripped the door tightly. Roy felt she was still keeping something from him, he had to make sure that he figured it out. “Anyway, I’ll wake you up from your nap before he gets back.”  
She waved and closed the door behind her quietly.

“Smart girl.” Roy said to himself before he let his head rest on the pillows and decided to allow himself to nap until it was time to impress Hohenheim’s older son.  
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Roy woke up before May knocked on his door. It had been over an hour but she hadn’t come. He worried that she’d forgotten about him, but it was more likely that Edward hadn’t come back since May had said he worked late. He went into the bathroom attached to his bedroom and washed his face to make sure he was presentable.  
He reached out for his coat only to stop.

He didn’t think that Edward would appreciate him wearing his uniform since his opinions were so low towards military alchemists. Edward knew that he was in the military. There was no reason to provoke any anger in the young man. He left the jacket on the chair and left the room.

He followed his nose into the kitchen where a delicious smell was coming. He entered the kitchen, like the rest of the house it was very nice and homely with architecture that matched the rest of the house. It was empty but there was a large black pot resting on the stove where the scent was coming from.

“Hello?” he called but was met with silence. He walked over to the stove and lifted the lid off the pot. It was a large stew, he wasn’t a chef but he recognized some meat and potatoes in the chunky red substance. What he wasn’t quite sure of were the many spices that he was certain were part of the delicious looking concoction.

“If you taste that May will slice your hand clean off.” A voice came from the door leading to the garden. He looked up and saw a young man, around 5’7” with a tan coat, black slacks, a loose fitting white and long golden hair tied in a braid standing in the doorway with a briefcase. “It’s Mustang right?”

“Yes.” He answered a bit breathless. He could admit to himself that Alphonse was handsome disabled or not, but he hadn’t expected…well he hadn’t expected Edward to look even better. To be honest he thought he looked a bit off in the pictures that he’d seen of him so he hadn’t expected much, but dammit Edward was…hot. “You must be Edward.” He rested the lid back on the pot and came over to the man with an eager hand ready to shake his. “It’s an honor to—”

“Can you hold this for a second?” Edward absently handed him the briefcase while he removed his shoes and placed his jacket on a hook above his head. Roy noticed that Edward had a stud earring with an orange gem in his right ear. “I’ll take that now.”

“Sure.” Roy also noticed that he wasn’t looking him in the eyes. That bothered him.

“So you brought Hohenheim’s body back for us?” he asked as he went past Roy to the kitchen table where he rested his briefcase. “How was your trip here?”

“It was fine.” ‘Why won’t this kid look at me?’ Roy wondered. Now he was getting a bit pissed. Did the kid think it was beneath him? Or…did he already know that he was state alchemist? Shit. “Your father was a great man. I’m proud I got to learn from him.” Edward froze. Dammit! He hadn’t known and now he was fucked. Edward turned to him slowly and leaned against the table with his arms crossed against his chest.

“You were a student of my father’s?” he asked the floor. If he was looking at Roy he might have known if he was furious or not.

“Yes.” He answered quietly as he waited for Edward’s response. After a very long and uncomfortable silence where Edward kept his gaze on the floor and his shoulders hunched he brought his eyes up to meet Roy’s. He had to stifle a gasp when he saw that he had the exact same golden eyes that Hohenheim had possessed.

“So tell me,” he had an ugly but somehow seductive smirk on his lips. “Are you here to ask me for the secrets of Flame Alchemy or not?”

He asked with a fire in his eyes that nearly scorched Roy from where he stood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I leave you with a small cliff hanger.  
> I hope you're liking it so far, and if you like Roy/Ed fics check out my other one Dangerous Desire. A lot of people seem to like it and you might too!  
> Anyway I'll see you next week, have a good weekend.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys,  
> I know it's been a while but here's a new chapter for you.  
> If you read my story Dangerous Desire you might already know this, but if you don't here it is again.  
> I just finished directing a show that I've been working on since March and now I have all my work due on the 10th of May because I'm a senior.  
> So I won't be writing again until after that because I have to get all my work done.  
> And it is a lot of work.  
> That aside, I'm glad you're enjoying the story and please keep reading!

“Um…what?” Roy coughed out nervously then tried to remain calm in the hopes that Ed wouldn’t catch up on how uncertain he was. “I…I came here so your father could be put to rest.”

“So you aren’t interested in Flame Alchemy?” Ed smirked as he took a glass and filled it with water from the tap. “I find that hard to believe.”

“Your father asked me to come here Edward.” Roy answered quietly, hoping that mentioning Hohenheim would make him a little less cold towards him. Ed’s shoulders did seem to hunch a bit at the mention of his father and he kept his eyes trained on the water in his glass. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to—”

“How did it happen?” he asked solemnly, his hands gripped the counter tightly. “Was it…was it from his studies?”

“No…” Roy thought for a moment. Why did he and Alphonse think that Hohenheim had died from some alchemic accident? He thought it was time to pry, just a little bit. “…Actually the doctor said that it was most likely the after affect of some injury from the past that was never treated correctly—”

“Was it from his burns?” Ed’s eyes were wide with fear.

“Was he in a fire? He never told me about that.” Roy inquired, though this time Ed’s face seemed to shut down completely and he shook his head.

“Forget it, it was from when he was in the military.” Ed sighed before he downed the rest of his water. Roy chastised himself for watching the way his Adam’s apple bobbed as he drank. “Anyway, I’m going to get changed for dinner, you’re staying here tonight?”

“Yes.” Damn, if Roy didn’t say something about Flame Alchemy soon he would probably have him on a train as soon as possible. “I have to say this is a beautiful country, I hope I’ll get to see more of it while I’m here.” Ed stopped on his way up the stairs. “Is something wrong?”

“Um…no…forget it.” He turned to Roy. “Can you tell me…was he…did he suffer before he died?”

“Oh,” Roy thought for a moment, he could see tears glistening in Ed’s eyes, but the shadows in the house made it hard for him to see whether he was or not. He could however see him gripping the wooden handrail hard. “It was quick. I don’t know if he suffered before hand. I’m sorry I don’t know more.”

“I see.” Ed turned back to the stairs and headed up slowly. “Thanks for letting me know.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Roy would you like some more stew?” May asked sweetly as she dipped the ladle into the delicious red stew.

“Sure.” He smiled and readily accepted a second spoonful into his bowl. “This is truly amazing May, I’ve never had anything like it.”

“I grow the spices myself, and we get the fish fresh from the market down by the ocean.”

“Is the ocean really that close?” Roy asked enthusiastically, he had never seen the ocean when he wasn’t working or for longer than a couple of minutes. “I’d love to see it.”

“We should go tomorrow.” Alphonse added as he poured more wine in Roy’s cup. “Would you like to? I haven’t been in days. Brother could you join us?” he asked Edward hopefully, but his brother was looking over some papers with a pair of wire glasses balanced on the bridge of his nose.

“I don’t think so Al,” he wrote something down on the paper. “I’ll probably be stuck at the palace all day.”

“Ed don’t read at the table.” May chastised as she got up. “Do you two want dessert? I made a sponge cake.”

“That sounds great I’ll help you.” Roy finished the last of his stew and stood to help May clean the plates from the table.

“You don’t have to.” She smiled.

“It’s the least I can do.” He piled the bowls getting to Edward’s last, to his surprise he hadn’t eaten much of his food. “Are you finished?”

“Yep.” He didn’t bother looking up at Roy instead he kept his eyes on his papers. He had barely spoken throughout most of dinner and he had made a point of saying as little as possible to Roy. “Thanks.”

“ You’re welcome Edward.” He smiled as he took the plate away, he was trying to be as kind and welcoming as he could manage with the minimal leash that Edward was allowing him.

“It’s Ed.” He said curtly.

“Excuse me?” he stopped and looked as Edward continued to look over his notes offhandedly.

“Just call me Ed.” He finally looked up at Roy causing their eyes to meet. They held for a moment before he looked back to his notebook, he sighed then went to the kitchen to help May with the dishes.

“Thanks for this.” She giggled as she took the plates from him. “There’s a cake in the ice box if you could take that out I would appreciate it.”

“Sure.” He opened the box and saw the large yellow frosted cake with fruit on it. He rested it on the counter. “Are there dessert plates somewhere?”

“Yes.” The water stopped causing him to turn to May. Her shoulders looked hunched like she was holding something back.

“Is everything alright?” he rested a hand on her shoulder warmly.

“Actually…” she looked up at him with a smile on her face, but her eyes told him she was anything but happy. “…I wanted to apologize. Ed’s usually not this…well he’s usually a little more agreeable. A little stubborn but he normally talks a lot while he’s at dinner. I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need to feel bad about it,” He squeezed the hand on her shoulder. “I’m not offended.” He lied. “I knew he would be cold to me. I can’t say I expected him to welcome me in with open arms.”

“But he should have be thankful that you brought Hohenheim back to him.”

“He was, don’t worry.”

“Hey May!” Ed called from the doorway. “Can you tell the gravediggers to bring the body to the garden?”

“Right now?” he asked in shock then covered his mouth. “I’m sorry ignore me.”

“Anyway,” Ed continued. “I want to bury the body after dessert, and I’ll transmute the hole.” He left without another word.

“I’m really sorry.” May mumbled as she left the kitchen to find the gravediggers. He took a dishtowel and wiped a hand over his face. He thought initially that it was Edward’s cold tone towards him that was making him get emotional. But it was deeper than that. It was the fact that he was about to say goodbye to the only man who he had ever seen as a father. A man who had taken him in when he didn’t have to, when he should have been retired, when he should have been here with his sons.

“Are you alright Colonel?” he straightened up and saw Alphonse leaning on his cane in the doorway looking down at him. He shouldn’t be up was Roy’s immediate thought.

“I’m fine.” He smiled as he wiped his eyes to erase any evidence that he had been crying. “I was just about to look for the dessert plates. Do you know where they are?”

“Yes they’re over here.” Alphonse started to make his way over a cabinet to his left when Roy bolted up and hurried to open it for him. “Colonel.” He said resigned.

“Yes?”

“I know that my condition might seem bad, but I would prefer that you not treat me like a completely invalid.” He smiled at the end of his sentence, but Roy could hear the underlying anger and frustration at being treated as senile. He shook his head.

“I’m sorry, I’m an idiot.” He replied and handed two of the small dessert plates for Alphonse to carry. “Pinako would tell me not to treat her like an old woman constantly, I should have realized that was rude of me, I’m sorry.”

“That’s alright,” he laughed as he left the kitchen to put the plates out. “Can you get the cake? The cutter is in that top drawer.” He indicated with his cane.

“On it.” He eagerly grabbed the cake cutter out of the drawer and tried to follow Alphonse with his eyes to make sure he didn’t trip or fall. Both for his own sense of sanity and because he knew Ed and May would have his head on a spike if anything happened to them. He might have only been in this house for a few hours, but he could tell that Ed cared about his brother more than anything, and May seemed to care about him just as much.

“Where did your brother go?” he questioned as he entered with the cake in hand to see that Edward had left the dining room.

“He said he had to make a phone call.” Alphonse replied as he turned to the back room. “I’ll go get him.”

“That’s not necessary.” He noted the wince he gave when he started to move his leg then said as politely as he could without seeming pitying. “I’ll get him.”

He nodded to Roy with a slight relief in his eyes as he lowered himself back into his chair.

“It’s his office towards the back of the house just keep going straight.” Alphonse added as he walked, and he was thankful since he wouldn’t have gotten lost, but he might have had to come back and ask him for clarification and that would have been tiresome.

He found the door, it was a sliding door and open just a crack. He reached out to push the doors aside but he stopped when he heard the words coming from inside.

“No…I’m saying you don’t have to come over…because I want to be alone tonight…” he furrowed his brow at the words. He knew the tone of his voice. This was clearly a lovers’ spat of sorts. He told himself that he should leave, but curiosity forced his feet to stay rooted to the spot.

“…Please don’t…I just want to spend the night with my brother and…yes…I don’t know a Military guy…he’s not a spy Ling…” Ling, wasn’t that the name of the Emperor’s son? Did that mean that they were lovers? Surely not, they were probably just close. “…I can’t do this with you right now…Don’t Come Over!”

He knocked on the door then and pushed it aside. Ed looked up at him with the phone still pressed to his ear. His cheeks looked red, most likely from the argument.

“Ed, we’re about to have dessert.” He mentioned and tried to play as if he hadn’t heard anything. “Just thought you should know.”

“Thanks.” He nodded at him then turned back to the phone Roy began to make his way down the hall but he strained his ears to make sure he heard anything else that was said. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” He heard the slam of the phone. He guessed that… _Ling_ wouldn’t be able to say anything more. “Dammit.”

“Is everything alright?” May asked when Roy came into the dining room. “Where’s Ed?”

“Right here.” Ed said behind him then plopped down into his chair. “May can you do me a favor and get that box of rice wine we got for my birthday last year?”

She raised an eyebrow at him confused. The expression was mirrored by Alphonse. Roy guessed Ed probably wasn’t a big drinker, or else they would have no reason to be surprised.

“Which one?” she asked with a hand on her hip. “You’ve got to have at least 8 cartons of them down there.”

“I don’t care.” He rested his head on the table. “Which ever one was most recent.”

“Brother, are you alright?” Alphonse asked earnestly causing Ed to raise his head and give him a large fake smile.

“I’m fine Al,” he said cheerfully. “This looks delicious May.” He chimed in a took a large piece of cake that he started to wolf down with a smile plastered on his face. As Roy looked around the room he saw that neither May nor Alphonse seemed to be fooled by this display, but neither one seemed likely to challenge him. Roy pressed his fingers to his temple and thought to himself as he ate his cake slowly.

Why was Ed putting on this show for them? Why didn’t May or Al seem to care? But he looked at Alphonse and saw that there was a look of depression in his eyes, as if he desperately wanted to tell him something but lacked the courage to speak. He spoke with him as if nothing was off, but he could see it in his eyes. He saw that he wanted nothing more than to console his brother if only he would let him.

Maybe Roy could be that person for Ed.

He banished the thought as soon as it appeared in his mind and tried to think of anything else. He thought about Hohenheim and how they would be burying him in a few short minutes. He looked up at Ed.

“Edward—Ed...have you written a eulogy for your father?” he tried to sound only interested in the funeral and nothing else.

“No,” he responded with a raised brow. “I just planned to bury him and be done with it.” He said quietly. “Do you want to say something?”

“It wouldn’t be anything too explicit,” he clarified. “It’s jus that I was his student for many years, and I would like to see him off.”

“You brought him all the way here, what else could you possibly want to do?” it wasn’t said in an accusatory tone. Instead he sounded confused. He tilted his head so it rested in his hand as he observed Roy. “If you’d like to say something it wouldn’t make any difference to me I—”

“We’d be honored if you would speak Colonel Mustang.” Alphonse said with a glare in his brother’s direction. “Thank you.”

“Thanks.” Ed added and had the humility to look a little bit ashamed of his attitude earlier.

“Ed do you want me to put these in the kitchen?” May interrupted, she held a large brown crate in her arms.

“Yeah, just put them in the ice box so they’ll be cold.” He yawned then took a swig of his water before he rose. “I’m getting changed, then I’ll help you out to the garden alright Al?”

“I can make it there on my own brother.” He countered as he stood to help with the dishes with a cold shoulder in his brothers’ direction.

“Well alright then.” Ed stood. “I’ll see you out there in a minute Roy.” He turned to leave then stopped. “You should wear your Military jacket.”

“Really?” he asked surprised.

“Yeah,” he focused on his cuffs instead of looking Roy in the eye. “You might as well. He taught you to work for the Military right?”

“Um…yes.” He corrected as he rose from the table so he could get his jacket. “I’ll get changed right now.” He hurried to his room, happy that Ed seemed to be a little more agreeable now. He didn’t want to seem as if he was imposing but he had in fact written a little about Hohenheim on the train to Xing. He had only written about how wonderful and welcoming a teacher he had been to Roy since he had finished his lessons at the Military academy. How he hadn’t judged Roy for being from a foster home the way he had been in the academy, how he had treated him as an equal most of the time and not simply as a subordinate or a student. He had been kind and Roy assumed that was because he saw a chance to be a father again. Though he had to wonder why on Earth Hohenheim would have chosen Roy as a son when he had two of his own living here in Xing. He was certain there was a story behind it, but he had no idea what it could be.

“Well, don’t you look handsome.” May commented as he descended from the stairs. His hand flew to his hair making sure that it was still smoothed back the way he liked.

“Thank you May.” He gave her his most dashing smile and felt a bit of pride when her cheeks flushed slightly. Not that he was attracted to May. She was beautiful no doubt, but she was too young. He saw her more in the area of little sister the same way he saw Winry, and when he saw a woman like that he could never see her sexually.

“Well, let’s say goodbye.” She walked to the backdoor where the garden lay, he patted his inner pocket for the small speech he had written for reassurance then followed her outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it. I'm uploading two chapters to make up for the fact that I've been MIA for the past week.  
> Sorry I was literally going through what we call 'Hell week' in the theater.  
> For those of you that have ever been in a show you understand, for those of you that haven't...ugh there aren't words for my exhaustion right now.  
> Please leave Kudos and comments


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the next chapter.  
> And I wanted to say that this is a younger and not as confident Roy that we're dealing with in this story. His only goal right now is to one day become a General not to be Führer yet.  
> Got that? Good.

The hole had been made beneath the cherry blossom tree that he and Alphonse had at earlier in the day. He assumed that it was so Alphonse could sit while they buried Hohenheim. He looked around the garden briefly to see if there were any other tombstones. There weren’t.

He wondered if their mother was buried in Reseembol. Now that he thought about it, no one had mentioned their mother. He knew she was dead, but he had no idea how that had happened. It seemed to be another mystery that he would have to unravel from the Hohemheim brother’s.

Ed stood next to Alphonse who was sitting on the stone bench Hohenheim’s coffin was already in the hole. That made sense, it might have been difficult for them to lower it into the ground themselves. He tried to get a sense of how each brother was taking this. Alphonse looked sad, but more as if he was holding back his tears. Ed on the other hand was completely expressionless. He held his hands behind his back and simply stared at the hole, resigned. What had happened between them and their father that could make them show so little emotion at his funeral? It made him angry, but he kept his own emotions in check. He was already treading on thin ice with the brothers. He was in no position to get into an argument with them; certainly not now.

“Do you need any help Al?” Ed extended his arm to his brother to help him stand, but he ignored it instead using his cane so he could stand beside his brother. Roy assumed that if Al could stand on his own two feet without the cane he would be almost a foot taller than his older brother. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine brother.” He said flatly as he stared straight down at the coffin then pulled a ribbon out of his pocket with writing that he didn’t recognize on it. He assumed it was Xingese. He dropped it over the coffin. “I wish I had seen you before…I wish I had known you better.” He gripped his cane tightly. “Goodbye dad.”

Ed stared at Alphonse sadly. It was the first emotion that Roy had seen him openly display. He brought out his own ribbon and twisted it between his fingers as if he was fighting with his words.  Finally he spoke.

“Goodbye old man.” He muttered so quietly it was almost impossible to hear. Then he dropped the ribbon in with his brother’s and that was that.

“Roy.” May whispered beside him with a ribbon in her hand for him. “It’s a tradition in Xing to drop a ribbon with a final prayer in with the dead. I wrote one for you.” She pushed it into his hand then stood forward with her own ribbon tangled between her fingers. She looked down at the coffin uncertain before she spoke. “I didn’t know you sir, but if you were anything like your sons I bet you were pretty stubborn and intelligent.” Alphonse chuckled dryly. “And I think that you would have been very proud of the men that they turned out to be.” She dropped her ribbon. “Please rest in peace.” She stepped back and nodded to Roy who went forward holding the ribbon in his hands unsure.

“I have to agree with Miss May, you were stubborn Master Hoheneheim, but you were also one of the kindest and most intelligent man that I had the pleasure of knowing and learning from.” He held the ribbon out ready to drop it. “I’ll miss you. And thank you for welcoming me into your home when you had no obligation to. You were a great man, and I know that you’ll be missed.” He let the ribbon fall from his hands gently and rest on top of the others. “Goodbye.”

“Alright then.” Ed knelt down and took out a piece of chalk. He drew a small circle on the ground then clapped his hands transmuting the dirt beneath their feet so it covered the hole in the ground completely.

“Are you going to put up a headstone?” Roy felt so numb from the experience he hardly realized that he was the one who had asked the question. May shook her head.

“Instead of headstones we usually plant trees where the dead are laid to rest.” She pointed at the cherry blossom. “Since this one was only planted a short time ago, this will be Hoheneheim’s tree.”

“I see.” That was actually quite nice. Since the bench was there it would be hard to forget which tree he was planted under. He liked the idea very much.

“I’m going to bed.” Alphonse said dryly and didn’t wait for anyone before he started to make his way into the house with May close behind him. Maybe Roy had been wrong before, perhaps he wanted to be alone for a little bit to mourn his father in private.

“I think I’ll retire to the washroom.” He looked at Ed who was sitting on the stone bench in silence. He looked down and saw him gripping his knees so hard his knuckles were turning white. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” He said curtly. Roy thought about saying something, but decided against it. He was getting the impression that whatever Ed was dealing with he wanted to do so alone. It wasn’t his place to intrude on that.

“I’ll see you in the morning then.” He said with a small bow then turned back to the house.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The bathroom attached to Roy’s guestroom was quite nice. He had been a little nervous when he saw the bath initially since it seemed to be rather small, but once he stepped into it he realized that it was quite deep and wide enough for him to stretch out and place his feet on the edge.

There were plenty of different soaps that all smelled like the many flowers that he had only gotten a quick whiff of on his way to the house. He would have to ask May if she was the one who purchased them all, and if he could steal any of them. He thought Riza might like one of them for herself.

But that all depended on how long he was allowed to stay in the house. There would be very little point in staying if Ed wouldn’t allow him to research whatever information he had on Flame Alchemy. He groaned to himself and sunk as deep into the tub as he could.

He thought about his friend Maes Hughes and how even if someone tried to tell him ‘no’ he would just pretend he hadn’t heard it. Though in his heart of hearts Roy just assumed that Maes simply didn’t understand the word. Not that he would ever hurt someone if they told him to stop, but if he wanted something he always had a way of getting it. God, he wished he had that immovable will power.

Well, he would just have to pretend he did and let Ed know he wasn’t going anywhere until he told him everything he knew about Flame Alchemy. He nodded to himself and got out of the tub. He made a quick mental note to himself to call Maes when he got a chance. When he had left he had just met according to him ‘the woman of his dreams’ and he assumed he would need to take on some best man duties whether he wanted to or not. Hopefully they would elope and he wouldn’t have to do anything.

He dressed in his pajamas then headed downstairs to get himself a cup of water before he went to bed. It had started to rain and the pattering hit the roof rhythmically. He was in the kitchen when he heard a choked noise from the balcony just outside of the dining room. He peeked his head inside but saw no one so he assumed that it was just the rain but then he heard it again.

“Hello?” he walked into the dining room. There wasn’t anyone there but the doors to the balcony were open. He stepped out onto it to make sure no one was trying to sneak in, there wasn’t anyone there and he was about to turn around when a voice spoke to him.

“Have a drink.” Ed was sitting in the darkened corner of the balcony with a clear white bottle in his hand. It was half-empty and there were two empty ones sitting on the ground next to him. He turned to Roy, even in the darkness his golden eyes were visible and his cheeks looked red probably from the alcohol.

“No thanks.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Shouldn’t you go inside? You might get a cold sitting out here in the rain.”

“So what?” he sighed and ran a hand through his hair pulling out the hair tie that had kept it neatly at the base of his head. His hair fell like golden silk around his shoulders and Roy looked away. “Come on it’s no fun to drink alone.” He raised a bottle from the large crate at his side and pointed it at Roy. “Drink.”

It was a command so Roy shrugged and took the bottle from him. Ed was probably too drunk to notice if he pretended to drink. He opened it and raised it to his lips. The wine was sweet and light, which probably meant it was lethal when drunk recklessly. He looked at the bottle, but all the writing was in Xingese so he couldn’t read it. Then he looked at Ed who had brought his knees up to his chin and had his arms wrapped around them tightly. He looked at the bottle that was in his hand noting it was practically empty and a thought bombarded him.

If Ed was that drunk, he might be more willing to talk about Flame Alchemy. He shook the thought from his head the moment it entered. Clearly Ed was distressed and he had no right to take advantage of his current state for his own gain. He hung his head in shame for even letting himself think that.

“So you want to know about Flame Alchemy right?” Ed said laxly as he tilted his head on his knees so he was looking at Roy sideways. “That’s the real reason you came here right?”

“No!” he protested and brought his hand up to his chest. “Hohenheim was like a father to me and—”

“That’s nice.” Ed replied quietly then buried his head in his knees.

“Ed?” he knelt down beside him resting a tentative hand on his shoulder. “Are you—?”

“I’m fine.” He shook his hand off and walked to the edge of the balcony so he was nearly in the rain. He stepped out from the cover of the roof so the rain could hit him. “What did my father tell you about Flame Alchemy?”

“Nothing, he said you were the only one who knew anything about it.” He stepped closer to Ed. “Come back under the roof you’ll—”

“He really didn’t tell you anything else about it?” Ed turned to him with suspicion in his eyes. His hand was gripping the buttons of his shirt. “Really?”

“No.” Roy was starting to get a little concerned. He didn’t think Ed was quite stable at the moment. He was close to grabbing him and pulling him back under the safety of the roof. “He just taught me the basics about Alchemy and everything else he could, but he never told me anything about Flame Alchemy.”

“What about my mother’s notes?” he asked calmly.

“I…I have them.” He admitted. “So they are hers’ I thought so. He had given them to Winry.”

“That was smart.” Ed chuckled. Then he did something unexpected. He started to unbutton his now soaking wet shirt. “But her notes are only one part of the equation. You’d need the other half to translate them fully.”

“What are you—” his voice caught in his throat when Ed’s shirt fell with a wet plop to the ground and he saw a massive tattoo covering it. It took a moment for him to realize that the tattoo was Alchemic notes. “Oh…God…” when Hohenheim had told him Ed had the secrets of Flame Alchemy he had expected notes, not…not his own flesh. He was the secret of Flame Alchemy.

“I’m willing to give you these notes Mustang.” Ed said coldly. “But I need you to do something for me.”

“What?” it took a moment for him to speak since it felt like his mouth was filled with cotton. It was so hard to believe that the ink that covered Ed’s back were the secrets to Flame Alchemy, the one thing he had wanted since he’d heard about it through the rumor mill at the Military academy. They were right there in front of him, so close but so impossibly far away. “Whatever it is Edward I promise I’ll—”

“Burn it off.” Ed’s voice cut through the noise of the rain like a knife. He looked at Roy over his shoulder. “You can learn it, do whatever you want with it. But you can never tell anyone about it. And you can never teach it to anyone else.” He narrowed his eyes at Roy. “But before you leave this country with these secrets you have to burn this Alchemy off of my back—”

“Are you insane?” he was willing to do a great many things to reach his goal of one day becoming a General in Amestris, but this…this might be too much. “I could never do that. You might die.”

“It’s simple Mustang.” Ed continued as if he hadn’t heard Roy at all. “You can learn Flame Alchemy and destroy the secrets before you leave, or you can leave tomorrow and never come back.”

“Why would you want me to do this?” was this the reason Ed had left Reseembol? Was this why he hadn’t shed a tear at his father’s funeral? Had Hohenheim written these secrets on Ed’s flesh without his consent? “You realize what the world would be like if you took those secrets and allowed them to be properly—”

“No!” he cried out and his knees buckled beneath him so he fell to the ground shaking. “That can never happen.”

“Ed.” Roy said softly as he came into the rain with him and brought him up to his feet so they were face to face. “Why are you offering this to me? Why are you trusting me with this?”

“My father sent you.” He leaned forward so his face was buried in Roy’s shirt. “I think this is the reason why.”

“Let’s get you in the house.” Roy pulled them back under the roof. Now they were both completely soaked. Ed gripped his collar forcing their eyes to meet. His gold eyes were pleading with his own.

“I’m begging you to do this.” He shook his head. “I’ve kept these secrets for so long. I don’t want them anymore. So please…please take them away.” His eyes darkened. “If you can’t do this for me, then leave in the morning before I wake up.”

He shoved his body from Roy’s and went into the house without falling which considering the amount of alcohol that he had ingested was rather impressive. He would have admired his tolerance if he hadn’t heard a small crash inside a moment later. He rushed up the stairs to the house to see Ed had collapsed on the ground and was snoring softly. He shook his head and forced himself not to laugh. He slipped his arms around Ed’s small form and walked up the stairs where he assumed his bedroom must be since he had gone up there to change earlier. In fact Ed’s room seemed to be the only thing upstairs. It was quite large with an equally large bathroom attached to it. He wondered why. The minute he closed the door of his room all the noise from outside seemed to dull completely. The walls were covered in cloth, that meant it would be hard for someone to hear what was happening inside of the room without making an effort. He wondered why.

He laid Ed on his bed gently and pulled off his soaking clothes. He froze as he gazed again at the Alchemic notes penned into Ed’s flesh. He reached out and touched the words etched into his skin gently. They were so intricate and delicately placed. It would take time to examine and translate each of the notes separately.

They didn’t even feel like normal tattoos, they felt like they were a part of his flesh, as if he’d been born with the secrets. Maybe he had. Maybe Hohenheim had somehow inverted the secrets of Flame Alchemy on his wife while she was pregnant and Ed had absorbed them. It might have injured Trisha and Alphonse. Maybe that was why she was dead and his youngest son walked with a limp? It was a bit of a reach and he knew he shouldn’t jump to any conclusions until he had all the information. He only hoped that Ed would tell them to him willingly.

Ed made a soft sighing sound and Roy realized that he had let his hand travel from his back up to his hair that he was currently running his hands through. He pulled it back immediately as he came to terms with how inappropriate it was for him to be caressing Ed like this. Worse than that the fact that Ed was only in his boxers and they were both soaking wet in a bed was starting to dawn on him, especially his groin.

He quickly stood up and covered Ed’s half naked body with the blanket then hurried to his bedroom. He needed to think. Could he really use the powers of Flame Alchemy to hurt Ed? No matter how much he told Roy he wanted it he knew it would cause him immense pain, and he didn’t want to be responsible for that.

He blushed at his word choice and groaned as he walked to his bedroom. It was never pleasant to walk while half-erect. He entered his bedroom and went right to the bathroom preparing to take a quick cold shower before he went to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What will Roy do? How did Ed get the secrets of Alchemy tattoo onto his back? Will Alphonse's leg ever be healed? This and many more questions will be answered after the 10th of May!  
> Stay tuned!  
> Or read Dangerous Desire for your Royed fix. It too will be updated again after the 10th of May!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course after I give you guys a chapter telling you that I would update Dangerous Desire on Wednesdays and this one on Saturdays and then didn't.
> 
> I'm sorry. Just got a job and it's been a little hectic.
> 
> So here's this chapter and I might update both of my stories on Saturday or Sunday, depending on my workload.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

Roy woke up when he heard a wild banging in the direction of the kitchen. He didn’t bother to check the clock to see what the time was he just pulled on his pants and ran out his bedroom towards the door. He opened the small peep door.

“Is Ed here?” a young man with long black hair tied at the base of his head asked. For a moment Roy thought he was a patient of Ed’s. He was about to tell him to leave since it was early in the morning and he doubted Ed wanted to deal with any patients, especially since he’d drunk almost his weight in alcohol last night. But then he recognized the man’s face and the braid that went down his back. It was the Prince.

“He’s asleep.” He stepped aside assuming that Ed wouldn’t tell him to take a hike. Though when he thought about it, hadn’t he heard them arguing the night before? His head hurt from lack of sleep so he didn’t even bother to tell the Prince not to wake him, not that it would have mattered since he ran past him and straight up the stairs.

“Ed!” he heard the door above bang.

“Ling what are you doing here?” he heard an outraged cry come from Ed. He was about to turn to the staircase and see if he could help when he felt a hand on his shoulder. May stood behind him with her hair down instead of in it’s buns from the day before. She smiled at him.

“Don’t worry about them Colonel.” She walked towards the kitchen. “They fight like that constantly. Would you like some coffee?”

“Sure…” he answered hesitantly and looked up the stairs. Ed was yelling again.

“I told you to give me some time—” his door slammed and their shouts became too muffled to make out. Roy decided to follow May into the kitchen to see if she needed any help with breakfast.

“I see Ed drank his fill last night.” She responded slyly as she kicked the crate of empty rice wine. “I hope he didn’t humiliate himself too much in front of you last night.”

“Oh, of course not.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “No, he was fine.” He heard a bang from above them. “Do they always fight this loudly?”

“Yes.” May responded simply and handed him a cup of coffee. “It’s a bit of a love/hate relationship between the two of them.”

“I see.” He could relate. His relationship with Lieutenant Hawkeye could range from sweet as pie to roaring arguments in mere seconds. “Does Ling come over here often?”

“As often as he can, or if Ed can’t come to the Palace to see him.” she spooned some sugar into another cup of coffee. “They’ve known each other since he came here, they’re very close Colonel.”

“It’s nice that Ed has such good friends so far away from home.” Roy commented as he sipped his coffee. May fumbled with the sugar bowl crashed on the tiles and sent sugar flying everywhere. “Oh my goodness.”

“I’m so sorry!” May cried out as she rushed from the room in search of a broom. “I’ll be right back.”

“You don’t have to—” he called but she had already run off. He sighed dug his spare chalk out of his pocket and drew the alchemic sigil on the ground. He then clapped his hands and repaired the sugar bowl. Though he was glad when May came back with a broom to sweep the sugar up since he couldn’t remember the equation for putting food into bowls.

“Oh…thanks.” May replied as she swept the sugar up. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” He leaned against the counter and watched her carefully. “Did I say something wrong?”

“Excuse me?” she stopped cleaning as she looked up at him.

“I thought you dropped the sugar bowl because I said something wrong.” He ruffled his hair as he thought over what he might have said. He had only mentioned that Ed had good friends. Why had that set May on edge?

“Oh no I just lost hold of the bowl.” May said to the ground as she continued to sweep.

That was a lie. Working in the military had taught Roy a great many things, one of them had been how to tell when someone was lying to your face. They always avoided looking in your eyes if they were lying. What was she lying to him about? What the hell was going on in this house?

“Could you do me a favor Colonel?” May asked as she took a pan out of a cabinet and two eggs from the icebox. She was very quick with her hands as she cooked a couple of sunny side up eggs in record time. “I need to make more breakfast than I planned now that Ling’s here.” She brought out a set of sausage links from the icebox then laid them carefully on the pan. “Would you mind bringing Alphonse his breakfast?”

“Oh sure.” He agreed. Though he felt that May was doing this more to get him out of the kitchen than because she couldn’t handle getting food to everyone. “Is there a tray in his room or—?”

“I’ll give you one.” She rolled the sausages off the pan and onto the plate with the eggs. She then picked up a tray from underneath the sink. It had quite nice ornate decorations of flowers and leaves. She placed the plate on the tray along with a cup. “There’s a pitcher of orange juice in the box can you pass it to me?” He nodded and handed her the juice. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He looked above them and realized that it was significantly quieter. He watched as she placed a cover over the food so it would stay hot.“I guess you were right.”

“About what?” she asked as she handed him the tray.

“About Ed and Ling.” He commented. “They stopped fighting.”

“Like I said this happens all the time with the two of them.” She smiled. “Would you like your eggs a certain way? Or would you like hotcakes?”

“Whatever’s easiest for you.” He hadn’t thought about eating hotcakes or even asking for anything that she hadn’t already offered. He was merely the guest in this house, the last thing he should be doing is asking for something special.

“You don’t have to be like that Colonel.” She started to pour flour into a bowl. “I’d be happy to make something you want to eat.”

“Really it’s not a problem May thank you for asking though.” He looked down the hall. “Alphonse is down the hall?”

“The door on the right hand side.” She pointed as she continued to cook and he followed the direction her finger had pointed.

Roy headed down the hallway to Alphonse’s room with the tray in hand. He knocked on the door gently but there was no response. He knocked again, but there was still no answer.

“Alphonse?” he questioned as he knocked on the door again.

He opened the door slowly only to see Alphonse fast asleep on the bed. The room didn’t look like Ed’s bare room. There were pictures on the walls from when the boys had been in Resembool with Winry, Pinako, their father and other children. There were still no pictures of their mother.

“Alphonse?” he asked quietly as he pulled the small rolling table in his room over to the boy’s bedside. He rested the tray on the table. He wondered how often Alphonse ate in bed. He didn’t seem to have a problem the night before when they had had dinner, but maybe exerting too much energy in the morning was a bit much for him. He was thankful that May had put covers over the food so it wouldn’t get cold while Alphonse continued to sleep.

He was about to leave the room when he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. A small picture frame sat at the back of Alphonse’s small desk hidden behind the rest of his trinkets. He would have simply walked past it, but he saw that there was a woman standing in the picture that he hadn’t seen before. He picked up the frame, the picture had Ed holding Alphonse while a beautiful woman with light chestnut hair stood behind them with a bright smile on her face.

“That’s my mother.” Alphonse said from the bed sleepily. Roy was so startled that he nearly dropped the picture. “Sorry I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“I should be the one apologizing to you.” He replied. “I’ll leave you to eat your breakfast in private. I’m sorry to intrude.”

“You can stay,” Alphonse smiled as he lifted himself up from the bed and pulled the side table over to his bed. He pulled the cover off the food so he could begin to eat. “Do you like the picture?”

“There weren’t any pictures of your mother in Resembool,” he brought the picture over to Alphonse and looked at it again. He had his mother’s eyes. “This is the first time I’ve ever been able to put a face to her name.”

“I think it might be the only picture left after the fire.” Al responded casually as he ate his eggs.

“Fire?” Roy hadn’t heard about a fire. “What fire?”

“The first house we ever lived in burned down it a fire.” He used his free hand to shove his legs over. “Please sit.”

“No I shouldn’t.” Roy practically balked at the thought of it. “I might hurt your leg or—”

“Colonel,” Al said simply. “I’m injured not dead. Please sit down.”

“Right.” He had to tread a thin line and make sure he didn’t offend Alphonse. “Your first house in Resembool burnt down in a fire?”

“My father never mentioned anything about it?” Al continued to eat his breakfast.

“It must have been a very painful memory.” Roy rubbed his thumb over the corner of the picture where Ed held his mother around the waist lovingly.

“It was,” Alphonse cut a piece of his sausage slowly. “My mother died in the fire.”

“I’m…I’m sorry.” He was getting a little tired of saying that word. And he was sure that Alphonse was tired of hearing it. A thought suddenly hit him like a brick to the head. “Is that how your father got injured?”

“…Oh I guess.” He tapped his fork against his lips. “I didn’t know that he was injured. But I suppose it’s possible, after all the fire is what injured my leg.”

“Really.” He pointed to his mother and Ed in the picture. “Were your brother and your mother close?”

“Yeah,” Alphonse smiled as he raised the glass of orange juice to his lips. “They were closer than me and brother are. I know Ed would never say it out loud but she loved him just a little more than me. I’m not mad or anything, but they were really close.”

“That’s nice.” Roy felt a twinge of regret as he thought about the fact that he had never had the pleasure of knowing his mother. True, he had Madame Christmas. But having someone act as your mother versus knowing your actual mother simply wasn’t the same. “I’m surprised her ashes aren’t here with Ed since he cared for her so much.” He said leadingly. “What was she like?”

“Sweet,” a smile spread across Alphonse’s face and Roy had to admit he felt a small twinge of pride that he was able to put it there. “A wonderful cook, I used to love her cooking. She always encouraged Ed and I to learn Alchemy. I think it was her greatest passion. I think that’s why she and Ed got along so well.” He leaned his head back against the headboard and closed his eyes like he was reminiscing. “We would always try to improve our skills to impress her, we got into so many fights about it.” He laughed. “You wouldn’t believe how competitive Ed used to be.”

He thought for a moment, May had said he worked in the royal hospital. If he wasn’t competitive how had he gotten a position so close to the Emperor? Was it because of his relationship with the Prince or was it because he was naturally gifted with Alchemy.

“Why weren’t her ashes brought here to be with you and Ed?”

“Yeah…” Alphonse seemed to clam up at this. “I don’t think they could find her ashes after the fire. Ed was pretty upset about it but…never mind.” He shook his head.

 “He still is,” Alphonse corrected. “Just not the way he used to be. He works hard but since I haven’t been performing Alchemy since my accident…” he trailed off with a crestfallen look marring his face. “Never mind.”

“Do you miss performing Alchemy?” Roy asked in an attempt to lift his spirits.

“A little,” he looked at his hands and clenched them restlessly. “I’ve been trying to practice a little with May, but she’s worried that I might strain myself.”

“I could practice some basic Alchemy with you if you’d like.” He offered with a smile.

“Really?” the boys face lit up and he smiled up at Roy brightly. “You’d do that for me?”

“I…” he thought back to what had happened between him and Ed the night before. He had told him to leave if he didn’t agree to his terms. Could he do as Ed had requested of him. He looked up at Alphonse who was eyeing him hopefully. “Yes. I would love to teach you some of what your father taught me.”

Alphonse opened his mouth to say something but grew quiet, then he reached his hands out and gripped Roy’s hands. He looked up at him with tears in his eyes and nodded. He opened his mouth to speak but a coughing spell took him.

“Let me get you some water.” Roy said trying to keep the panic out of his voice. “Do you want your medicine?”

He simply continued to cough. Roy stood and went to the door.

“I’ll get May for you.”

“Colonel—” he coughed out stopping Roy from leaving the room. He took a couple deep breadths before he spoke again. “—Thank you.”

“You’re welcome Alphonse,” he smiled at him. “Now please try to rest, I’ll send May up with your medicine.” He closed the door and rushed down the stairs to the kitchen. “May.”

“Huh?” she looked up from the sink where she was washing the dishes.

“Alphonse is coughing and—”

“Did he cough up any blood?” Ed popped his head into the kitchen suddenly. His golden eyes were large and panicked. His hair was damp and a towel was around his shoulders.

“No.” He hadn’t seen any blood.

“I’ll handle it.” May rushed past him with a small brown bottle in her hand to Alphonse’ room.

“Will he be alright?” he asked Ed who was gripping the doorframe of the kitchen so hard that his knuckles were turning white. “Ed?”

“He’ll be fine.” He turned over to see the young man from before sitting in the kitchen with about ten empty breakfast dishes in front of him as he worked on an eleventh. “Hello there I’m Ling.”

“Hello.” He waved at the young man a hesitantly. Ed glared at him over his shoulder.

“When are you leaving?” he grumbled as he sat back at the table and poured himself another cup of coffee. “Roy, May made you some breakfast but if _his majesty_ ate it she’ll make you another.”

“Sorry about that!” Ling grinned at him as Roy sat down at the table on Ed’s side. He had his face buried in a book and Ling was looking at him with an oddly intimate expression on his face. He then turned to Roy with the same mischievous grin as before. “So you’re in the military?”

“Um…yes.” He had thought the Prince would be less welcoming to a member of the Amestris military, but he didn’t come off as threatening at all. “I’m a Colonel.”

“I see, how impressive.” He poured himself a cup of coffee. “Now Ed tells me you were tutored by his father.”

“Yes I—”

“Ling.” Ed slammed his book down and glared at the Prince who simply smiled at him, not a shred of intimidation showed in his face. “Leave it.”

“Well you didn’t tell me that he passed,” he pouted. “From the way you spoke about him I thought he was already dead.” Roy turned to Ed. It actually hurt him to hear that Ed would have lied to Ling about his father dying. Why would he lie about that?

“I told you I wanted to spend the day researching.” He stood up and gathered his things heading out of the house. “I’m going to the library.”

“That’s on my way back to the palace.” Ling stood up and opened the door out of the house for Ed. He glared at Ling who simply nodded and left the house before Ed. “I’ll be waiting in the car.” He called back at him.

“I’m going,” Ed pulled on his shoes and his coat. “If May or Al want to know where I am tell them I went to the library. I’ll be back before dinner.”

“Ed.” Roy spoke quietly and Ed paused in the doorway with an accusatory look at him. “Shouldn’t you stay with Al for the day?” he rose and come over to the door so they were eye to eye. “He’s feeling a little…unsettled.” Ed’s cheeks flushed and he looked at the ground. “He could use your support.”

“I’m sorry.” He whispered and Roy knew it was sincere. “But I can’t right now…I just need to…I need to get out of here for a little while.” His golden eyes were blazing dangerously now. “Don’t tell me what to do Mustang.” He growled as he began to head out the door.

“Ed.” He gripped his arm lightly. “I’ve…I’ve come to a decision about what you said last night.”

Ed paused and his eyes grew wider. He opened his mouth to say something then closed it and narrowed his eyes distrustfully at Roy.

“And?” he took a deep breadth as if he was trying to brace himself. Clearly Roy was not the first person to have this discussion with him. He had been let down before, but Roy didn’t want to do that, he wanted to do this right. Not just for himself, or the military, or Ed, but for Hohenheim who had sent him there with a purpose.

“I’ll do it.” He said hardly over a whisper. Ed’s eyes grew even wider.

“Do what?” he asked hoarsely.

“Your tattoo.” Roy replied more confident. “If you teach me I promise to burn off your tattoo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well well well.
> 
> Will Roy follow through on his promise to Ed?
> 
> What's Ling's relationship with Ed?
> 
> Will Alphonse learn Alchemy again?
> 
> How did Ed get that tattoo?
> 
> This and more questions will be answered once I finish this damn fanfic!
> 
> Please comment/subscribe/leave kudos!
> 
> I welcome critical feedback!


	7. This is NOT A CHAPTER UPDATE! THIS IS AN AUTHOR UPDATE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off: I'm not dead, I sadly lost my inspiration.  
> I want to finish this story but unfortunately I had a bit of a wake up call today and I'm wondering if anyone has any interest in this story anymore.  
> I want to finish them but if people think I'm bastardizing their beloved characters than I can't think of a reason to continue.  
> Please read the unfortunate exchange I had with a reader today and let me know if I'm being unfair or overreacting.  
> I really appreciate the help.  
> *I've since deleted what I believe are offensive comments from the chapters but they are underneath in their unedited glory*

Lyson on Chapter 1

Cant log in on cell phone, I'm Lyson on here. Just to let you know, so called brotherhood fan, official manga stats, when Ed was 18/19 he was almost the same height as Mustang and by the time he married Winry, +- 22 years old, he was about 174. Your misrepresenting him like every writer who doesn't pay attention to timeline and details.  
Posted Wed 19 Feb 2014 02:28PM EST  
bkbuglet on Chapter 1

First:  
His height in the mangas doesn't matter because this is a FANFICTION. That means it's interpreted by the fans how they choose to interpret it. If you have a problem with that I suggest you find a fiction that gets everything right or just stick to the manga. If this is your way of trying to 'help a writer' then it's a very misguided attempt, especially if you're going to say 'Your (you're by the way) misrepresenting him like every writer who doesn't pay attention to the timeline and details'.  
Second:  
If you'd like to write a piece of fanfiction where everything follows what happens in the manga please be my guest. However if you plan to read my manga and criticize my interpretation then insult my intelligence by claiming I'm 'don't pay attention to timeline and details' I must insist you keep your negative opinions to yourself. This is my fanfiction and I WANT Ed to be shorter.  
Good day  
Posted Wed 19 Feb 2014 02:31PM EST  
Last Edited Wed 19 Feb 2014 02:41PM EST  
Lyson on Chapter 1  
Yes I figured as much, another writer who likes a feminine, tiny Edward. You have no manga to read by the way, that was just an amusing and stupid typo.

And I wasn't trying to crit your writing, I was telling you my opinion, which ìs what a review is essentially and you asked for reviews. I do write and I do follow character details when the story falls into the canon based genre and not AU, you're just using the claim that it's fanfiction as an excuse to angst because you don't like my comment. Tough. I've stopped reading your story though, so there'll be nothing further from me.

Enjoy slandering Edward's character.

-Lyson  
Posted Wed 19 Feb 2014 07:27PM EST  
bkbuglet on Chapter 1

you weren't 'critiquing!' (learn how to spell for the sake of your readers). I have read manga and please don't make assumptions about me. No one held a gun to your head and asked you to read it and no one held a gun to your head and told you to write a rude comment. And do not ever accuse anyone you DO NOT KNOW of slandering a character, you like him tall? Fine then read him tall for all I care.  
You're "opinion" about me using AU and fanfictions as "excuses" to feminize Edward couldn't be farther from the truth. The Ed I'm writing about is the one from the end of Brotherhood the series where he was still shorter than Roy. Why you have a problem with that I'll never know. But please stay away from my work and try to curve your attitude which just comes off as entitled and ignorant to other people's interpretations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want this story to continue I will happily complete it, but I won't be able to get back to it until March 8th. If you've moved on and no longer want to read the story I understand my absence isn't fair to you guys.  
> I wanted to continue but my work kept piling up, I had an insane internship with a total crazy person and I currently have 2 jobs so I haven't been able to sit down and write the story I want to for you guys. After a while I was honestly too embarrassed to come back to the story since I felt like a failure to you for not completing it in time.  
> I'm sorry for my dedicated fans and people who loved this and my other story who have been waiting for it to continue.  
> Thank you for your support.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave comments and kudos!


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